Adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming of media has become a popular approach for delivering multimedia content over the Internet. Example streaming implementations use a “client-controlled” methodology in which the client requests media segments from a content server at an appropriate time, wherein data transfer typically takes place over HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)-based networks utilizing reliable and/or unreliable transport mechanisms disposed between the media content sources and one or more clients. It should be appreciated that the infrastructure for HTTP-based streaming is far more widespread than that of other media streaming protocols such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).
Transmission of ABR media over unreliable transport can be problematic, however. Further, network utilization is not evenly spread throughout the day and dimensioning the network capacity for busy times of day carries a high cost. Such issues thwart recording of ABR content at a local storage device in an optimal manner.